


Lost in Capsulation

by ozuma



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Akihabara, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Capsule Hotels, Christmas Eve, Fluff, Japan, M/M, Meet-Cute, Tokyo (City)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 11:23:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17202572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuma/pseuds/ozuma
Summary: When Steve had planned out his trip up to Tokyo for the Christmas holidays, he'd resigned himself to spending a lonely holiday. An odd encounter with a handsome drunk man and the intimacy of a capsule hotel changes all that.Tony figured the business trip to Japan that Obie had sent him on would be yet another gauntlet of mind-numbing meetings. That is, until he encounters a kind kindred spirit one alcohol-fueled evening.





	Lost in Capsulation

**Author's Note:**

> Steve/Tony Secret Santa 2018 present for [neebles!](https://neebbles.tumblr.com/).
> 
> In this fic, Tony is around 25 and Steve is in his late 20's.
> 
> While this fic takes place in Japan, it's very much from the POV of two foreigners. The world around them takes a backseat to their experience of moving through it. I based a lot of this on my own experiences in the country, and have done my best to be accurate about cultural references.

Steve grunted as he dragged the limp body of the man down the quiet corridor. He glanced around nervously, hoping that none of the other residents of this place were awake. As far as he could tell, though, everyone was asleep. The little windows into the small chambers that he passed by were either empty or covered by a screen that had been pulled down. Steve couldn’t help a slight shiver as he moved further into the room. Japanese capsule hotels reminded him of some bizarre science fiction film featuring pod people or something crazy like that. He’d been reluctant when a fellow assistant language teacher had told him about them, but he couldn’t argue with the price.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally reached his own reserved place at the end of the room. Keeping the dead weight of the man’s body balanced with one hand, he reached for his key card in the other and swiped it over the lock to open the door. The door opened with a soft click and Steve hooked his foot into it to nudge it open.

The man suddenly stirred awake for a moment. “Don’t wanna go to work…” he grumbled before closing his eyes again and letting out a snore.

Panicking, Steve glanced around hoping no one had heard the sudden outburst. The room remained just as silent before and Steve let himself take a deep breath to relax. He glanced down at the man he’d been dragging around since he’d found him on earlier.

Whomever he was, he must’ve had money, Steve surmised as he started to scoot back toward the capsule he’d reserved for the night. The suit he’d been using to drag the guy around looked like it was tailored and probably worth more than Steve made in two months at the very least. The shoes looked just as fancy and were shined to perfection except for some scuffs probably incurred while walking around the city.

And the man’s face, well… Steve told himself he wasn’t helping this random salaryman-looking guy because he was attractive. Still, it wasn’t like he could deny that the man was devastatingly handsome. His hair was in disarray, but had clearly been styled to look like it was messy on purpose. There was some evidence of a mustache that probably needed to be kept in check. Besides all that, there was just something about this man’s face that drew Steve in.

In any case, the man was clearly out for the night and without somewhere to stay. He hadn’t found a wallet or any identifying information on the man, and his clearly very advanced cell phone was locked to a fingerprint. The few moments of lucidity he’d gotten out of the man didn’t give him much to go on, either.

So Steve had decided to let the man share his little capsule with him for the night. Which was crazy, he knew. For all he knew this man was a serial killer, though Steve seriously doubted it. Bucky would’ve smacked him across the head back when he was taller than Steve for doing something like this. Bucky always told him he had a hero complex with his need to save people. And, well, if that was the case, then so be it.

Thankfully, this capsule was bigger than Steve had assumed. He was able to position himself and his ‘guest’ on the soft futon layering the bottom of the small sleeping capsule.

After he closed the shutter for privacy, he maneuvered himself awkwardly to lie parallel with the mystery man. It was going to be a bit uncomfortable for sleep, but Steve had slept in worse conditions. He checked over the man once again to make sure he was okay. Steve had managed to get a glass of water in him, but that was about it. Otherwise, he just seemed to be black out drunk and sleeping it off.

Waking up would be interesting. Steve was an early riser, though, and figured he’d be awake before someone sleeping off some drinks.

“Goodnight,” Steve murmured into the cramped space of the sleep capsule before reaching up to turn off the light.

* * *

 

3 hours earlier

Tony was drunk. He was so very, _very_ drunk. The last time he’d been this drunk, he was pretty sure he had been drinking out of a red plastic cup with Rhodey giving him disapproving looks from the other end of the frat house’s ratty couch.

And really, it wasn’t his fault. This whole stupid business trip to Japan had been Obie’s idea. “Show the world what Tony Stark can do,” he’d said. He’d read up on Japanese business culture to prepare. Even learned enough phrases to sound decently polite.

What he hadn’t been prepared for, though, was the after work drinking culture. See also: fucking sake. The kind they’d had at the shabu shabu place had been some high quality stuff that looked like water. The flavor hadn’t been much, but it’d left a nice after taste in the mouth. Tony hadn’t realized just how much he’d had until he was face down on the table, his limbs like lead. When he’d finally summoned up the energy to look around, he saw all of his colleagues similarly knocked out. Fan-fucking-tastic.

For some reason he’d had the smart idea of taking the train back to his hotel, which had ended up with him getting lost in Shinjuku station–seriously, how many exits and entrances did that station have?!–finally getting his ass on the Yamanote line only to get off at the wrong stop. Oh, and that was the last train home. What the actual fuck.

Even better, he must’ve either dropped his wallet or left it at the shabu shabu place. So much for that. Which left him with his phone that wouldn’t get him a cab back to the hotel.

That was how he’d found himself wandering around who-the-fuck-knows-where neighborhood in Tokyo, doing his best to not trip over his own feet. There weren’t many people out this late, and those that were tended to be men similarly indisposed or groups of women that just ignored him. It was weird, to say the last. Not at all like what Tony remembered being drunk in New York or Boston was like. It was like no one here really cared if you were stumbling around the street. It was a good thing and a bad thing, he supposed.

After his third stop to find an alleyway to empty his stomach in, he’d stopped to take a break against the side of a building. Once his stomach had settled down a bit, he finally caught sight of the bright blue sign above him on the building.

“Well, shit,” Tony said to himself as he made out the words ‘hotel.’ Maybe things were looking up after all. He remembered being told that his train pass could also be used to pay for some hotels around town. Maybe he’d be able to at least find somewhere to pass out for the night that wasn’t the pavement.

* * *

Steve stifled a yawn as he stood in the crowded train in his own little space carved out partially by the duffel bag sitting between his legs and the fact that his height made him stand out. He glanced around over the dark-haired heads of the car’s other occupants, all of whom were occupied on their phones or asleep. Tokyo was like nothing he’d ever seen before, not even like New York. The city was far more crowded, more chaotic, and yet also calmer than the city he’d grown up in.

This was Steve’s second year in Japan working as an assistant language teacher for a government program he’d entered after finishing his last deployment in the US Army. Art school was too expensive, and this was a way for him to send money back home to help his friend Bucky out with his medical problems.

He hadn’t even really known what to expect when he signed up. He’d ended up being assigned to this tiny village somewhere in south Japan, yet despite growing up a city boy, he’d settled in nicely. The townspeople seemed to treat them as some kind of foreigner mascot; he was pretty sure by now that he knew everyone in the small town.

A year ago he’d scrounged enough money to travel home for the holidays. This year, though, he wasn’t so lucky. Bucky was doing better but insisted that he shouldn’t spend so much just to hang out with him, and it wasn’t like he had any other family to stay with. That left him alone in Japan for the end of the year.

He’d ended up deciding to take a long trip for Christmas and the New Year. After saving up for a few months and budgeting carefully, he’d snagged a cheap Shinkansen ticket and headed up here. Even with the fast ride, though, the day had been long and now he was looking forward to settling down for the night in the hotel he’d reserved a “room” in.

Glancing up at the display over the nearest door, Steve realized that his stop was next. Sure enough, the pleasant female voice announced Takadanobaba Station coming up. Steve quickly reached down for his duffel and made the awkward shuffle toward the door by politely moving through the crowd around him. People moved readily enough despite the lack of space to move to, and Steve was by the door by the time the train slowed to a stop.

Once he was safely on the platform, he stopped to take a deep breath and look around. The station was a lot smaller than others he’d seen, which he was thankful for. It made finding the proper exit easy. From there, he had to walk a few blocks to his hotel.

He still wasn’t sure what to expect from this kind of hotel by the time he’d walked up to the neon blue sign outside of the building. Well, no way to find out unless he went in. He marched through the sliding doors into the bright lobby like he would have marched onto the field back during his boot camp days.

Unsurprisingly, there was a woman at the front desk even this late. She didn’t seem phased by the fact that Steve was this random foreigner who’d showed up at a late hour as she looked up his reservation. It didn’t take long before she was cheerfully handing Steve his keycard and a sheet of paper explaining in English what to do with it.

Smiling back, Steve did an awkward bow and mumbled an ‘arigatou’ before heading to the elevators. Just his luck, though, there was only one elevator and it was at what seemed to be the top floor of this tall building. Steve wasn’t usually impatient, but he wanted to just lie down and rest his tired feet. His room was only on the third floor, and he figured it’d be faster to take the stairs at this rate.

He was about halfway up the first flight when he heard a noise coming from the second floor landing. He stopped for a second and sure enough, he could pick up what sounded like a low moan. His instincts told him to hurry up, and he took the rest of the steps quickly. Steve wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but a man in a suit leaning against a door wasn’t it.

On second thought, not even leaning. The man was slumped down against the door, his head leaning forwards. As Steve got closer, he caught the smell of some kind of alcohol, which pretty much answered any question he might have had. Probably a salaryman who’d had too much to drink and couldn’t even make it up to his floor.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked in Japanese, hoping that the man could understand his very American accent.

“Huh?” The man turned his head slowly to glance up at Steve.

It turned out that the man wasn’t Japanese after all. In fact, he looked like he might even be an American.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked again, in English this time.

“Fuckin’ door won’t open,” the man complained, his speech slurred.

Steve glanced at the offending door, immediately noticing the pink sign indicating that this was the women's floor.

“Uh, I think you’re on the wrong floor,” Steve offered politely.

“Well, fuck me, then.” The man seemed to deflate at that as he let his head lean back to hit the door. His eyes were closed, and Steve couldn’t help the feeling of pity that welled up inside of him.

Steve slung the duffel bag behind his back and stepped closer to the man. “You have a room on the third floor? I can help you up there.”

The man shrugged. “Dunno. Got a key from the lady at the front, but lost it when I was puking my brains out ‘n stuff in the bathroom.”

Well, wasn’t that just wonderful? Steve sighed. He knew what it was like to have a day like this when nothing seemed to go your way.

“Let me at least help you up there. We can figure it out from there.”

“Mmkay,” the man said before seemingly passing out and going limp against the door.

That left Steve to bend down, get his arms around his shoulders and haul him up. He wasn’t that heavy and Steve hadn’t lost much of the muscle he’d built up while in the army. Still, it wasn’t exactly easy going on the stairs. By the time they got to the third floor and the door opened with Steve’s keycard, he was just glad to be able to rest for a second.

The door opened to a hallway filled with lockers, which Steve knew from the information card he’d been given was the locker room. He slowly made his way to the locker matching the number on his keycard while doing his best to support the man. When he finally reached his locker, he carefully settled the man on the ground while he opened the locker to stash his duffel bag in the cramped space. When he glanced up to find a pair of slippers with a note that politely requested that he leave his shoes in the locker, he realized he had a bit of a problem. There was only one pair of slippers, and the man he’d helped up here was still wearing his very fancy, clearly expensive shoes.

Eventually, Steve settled on the awkward task of removing the man’s shoes and cramming them into the locker next to his. Once that was settled, he took the complementary toiletries bag. He was originally planning to just go to sleep immediately. Considering his unexpected companion’s state, though, a trip to the bathroom to clean up couldn’t hurt.

Once they were in the thankfully empty bathroom, Steve did his best to prop the man up one of those shower stools that Japanese baths always had.

He tried gently shaking the man’s shoulders. “Hey, you with me?”

Eventually the man stirred, his eyes opening slowly. Steve was taken aback for a moment. Even as unfocused as they were, the man’s eyes were striking. A deep brown with eyelashes that stuck out. They seemed so expressive, even now when the man seemed to be barely conscious.

Steve reached for a complimentary bottle of water kept by the sink. “You’re probably gonna have a killer hangover in the morning, so you might want to drink this.”

The man blinked a few times before his eyes seemed to focus on Steve a bit.

“No more sake,” he mumbled.

Steve couldn’t help a chuckle. “I promise you, this is water.”

“Fine,” the man said stubbornly as he reached up and tried to grab for the bottle. His hand missed by a few inches before falling back to his side.

Shaking his head, Steve took matters into his own hands. “Here, let me help you.”

At the very least he could get the bottle to the man’s lips. Sure enough, he drank gratefully once he was able to. He emptied the small bottle in no time before pulling back with a gasp.

“Better?”

The man nodded. His eyes turned toward Steve. “Are you… my guardian angel?”

Steve glanced up at the bright lights overhead. This guy must’ve been really out of it. “Not really, no. You’re just really drunk.”

“Ugh,” the man said. “Feel like shit.”

“Don’t blame you,” Steve said in sympathy. “How about you take a break while I brush my teeth and then we can see about getting you some accommodations for the night?”

“Fuckin’ Morikawa wouldn’t stop filling my cup,” he grumbled before closing his eyes again.

Steve took that as a sign that he was at least going to cooperate and went about getting ready for bed. By the time he turned back to check on the man, he was fast asleep. It was an odd sight, the man sitting there on a bath stool in a fancy suit with his black socks against the gray tiled floor. He ran a hand through his hair and huffed out a breath. He had a feeling that this capsule hotel wouldn’t have much space, but he didn’t feel right leaving this man here like this. He needed to figure something out, though. Otherwise he wouldn’t be getting much sleep, either. The last thing he wanted was to get them _both_ kicked out.

* * *

 

Next Morning

Tony woke up gradually in the way even his partially awake brain associated with hangovers. Groaning, he turned over only to hit something hard. That was odd… He was reluctant to open his eyes considering the pounding headache, but something was definitely off. Despite all of the weirdness, though, he was on something soft and he didn’t feel as bad as he expected to feel, all things considered.

After counting to 3 in his head, Tony slowly let his eyes open. He wasn’t assaulted by bright light like he expected to be. Instead, the room was dark. He was almost tempted to go back to sleep when he heard a sound behind him. As he tried to turn around, though, his right side hit a wall, which was… odd. He blinked a few times to get his bearings and let his eyes settle.

It turned out he wasn’t in a room at all. It was some kind of enclosed space with a little bit of light coming from the direction of his feet. That was weird enough; then he glanced down to see someone asleep at his side. That must’ve been who he heard.

“What the hell?!” he couldn’t help yelling out as he backed against the wall. Except the way was too close and didn’t give him much room to maneuver. Tony wasn’t one to get claustrophobic usually, but since when did he wake up locked in a tube with some random person?

The person next to him stirred before trying to push himself up. Who was this guy? Was he his kidnapper? Were they shipping him somewhere to harvest his organs?! He glanced toward the light at the other end of the tube or chamber or whatever the hell it was and tried to frantically crawl toward it. Unfortunately, he got tangled up in the other occupant’s feet and fell forward on his face.

Suddenly a light clicked on and Tony felt the body that was now under him move. He tried to turn around, except he couldn’t between the hangover and his general confusion. Tony could feel panic rising up like bile in his throat.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down,” a deep voice said as a hand landed on Tony’s shoulder. He flinched, and backed into the wall, turning onto his side. From this vantage point, the whole place looked sideways. “I know you’re probably confused right now.”

“You’re damn right, I am!” Tony tried to think back to the night before, but he came up blank. He remembered drinking way too much at shabu shabu with his clients. After that was a giant blur, though. Served him right for getting drunk off of his ass in a foreign country. He held up his hands. “Look, I don’t know what you want from me, but I’m really attached to my organs. I can spare a kidney at most, but that’s it.”

The other occupant of this strange prison moved closer into Tony’s limited field of vision. In this light, the man’s eyes looked very, very blue. His blond hair framed his face almost like a halo. This couldn’t be the afterlife, could it?

The man looked puzzled for a second. “I’m not trying to steal your organs, geez. And keep it down, would you? If anyone else hears us, we might both get kicked out.”

Tony considered that for a moment. “Where are we, exactly?”

The man shrugged. “A capsule hotel. I found you passed out on the second floor trying to break into the woman’s area and get yourself arrested. You said you’d lost your keycard, so I did the only thing I could think of.”

“Oh…” Tony tried thinking back to the night before again. He did seem to remember a hotel sign. And even paying for a hotel with his train card. Not much else besides that.

The man glanced down at his watch. “I was hoping I’d wake up earlier than you, but I must’ve been more tired than I thought.” He sat back with a sigh. “There goes my plans for the day.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. If this guy wasn’t after his organs, he could at least find out what was going on. “Plans?”

The man nodded. “Was going to head over to a museum, but the exhibit’s closed by now. I’ve totally slept in.”

“Huh…” Did Tony have any plans for today? He couldn’t even remember what day it was. “What day is it, anyway?”

The man gave him a look like he was crazy. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

“Huh.” That sounded about right. “Do the Japanese even celebrate that?”

“Kind of. It’s more for couples. New Years is the bigger holiday here, actually.”

“That would explain all the corporate parties…” Tony mumbled to himself.

“Are you okay, by the way? You were pretty drunk last night.”

Tony glanced up to see the man scrutinizing him with concern. The amount of sincerity in those blue eyes was almost too much to take this early. He needed a shower. And a massage. And maybe to kiss this guy’s pretty pink lips. ...Well, shit.

“I’m fine.” Tony shrugged as much as he could in his position. “Pretty used to this, anyway.”

The look of concern only deepened. “If you say so…” The man reached out toward Tony. “Anyway, my name’s Steve. How about you?”

“Tony,” he said as he smiled as he shook Steve’s hand from his awkward position. “So… you don’t have any plans for today anymore?”

Steve shook his head.

“Well what do you know, neither do I.” Tony wasn’t prepared for how brilliant Steve’s smile was.

* * *

“What the hell is an ALT?” Tony asked as he sipped at the coffee they’d ordered.

“Assistant language teacher,” Steve explained patiently.

“Oh, huh.” Tony took a sip from his coffee and gazed out the window of their cafe over the busy Tokyo street. He looked back to Steve. “So you teach kids English?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, down in Kyushu, actually. It’s a really small town, but… it’s nice.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He usually wasn’t this nervous when talking about his job. He _loved_ teaching. Even now he missed his students.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Kyushu? Wow, that’s a ways away from here. You fly up here or what?”

“Took a bunch of trains then hopped on the Shinkansen. Once I got on the bullet train, it was super fast. But all the stuff before that took most of the day.”

Chuckling, Tony took another sip of his drink. “So you arrived late last night and then ran into my sorry ass, huh?”

“Something like that…” Steve could feel his face heating up. “Hope the hangover hasn’t hit you too hard.”

Tony shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine. You gave me some water last night, right? You’re a lifesaver.” He gestured at Steve with his cup. “And anyway, once I get enough caffeine in my system I’ll be good to go.”

That got Steve thinking. He glanced around the café, noticing the cutesy Christmas decorations spanning across the walls. The people working the counters were even wearing Santa hats with their uniforms. It was a weird feeling, seeing Christmas celebrated like this. Way different from how it was back home.

“Speaking of going, um… do you need to head back to your hotel?”

Tony flinched for a second, then glanced away quickly. “Well, sure, but… I lost my wallet and that’ll make things a bit of a pain in the ass.” He rested his head on his hand against the window. “Would rather put off dealing with all of that.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that’s why I didn’t even know your name.” Steve smiled into his own cup of coffee. “Do you remember where you might’ve left it?”

Tony shrugged. “Could’ve been at the shabu shabu place or while I was drunkenly wandering around the city or even on the train. No point worrying about it at this rate.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a lost cause just yet. Let’s head to the closest police station and see what we can find.” He made to get up.

Tony shot him a skeptical look. “Police station? Why? I’m sure someone’s cleaned the whole thing out by now and dumped it somewhere.”

Steve couldn’t help laughing. He motioned for Tony to follow him as he went for the trash area. “Are you kidding? This is Japan. If someone found it, chances are good that they reported it.” He couldn’t help a grin at how Tony still looked skeptical.

* * *

To Tony’s shock, Steve had been right.

After watching Steve speak with one of the policemen at the small station in the area, they’d made some calls and after a half hour of waiting, someone had come by with Tony’s wallet.

He was still staring down at the neat, folded leather in disbelief. He could see Steve’s smug grin out of the corner of his eye. As he started to go through it, he realized that everything was there. “Driver’s license, credit cards, even my cash… wow,” Tony said, finally glancing up at Steve. Even his black Amex was safely ensconced in its pocket.

Steve nudged him with his elbow. “See? Take it from me. People here are happily turn in stuff like this to the authorities.”

“Huh…” Japan really was something else. He turned to the policemen who were watching them curiously. He bowed awkwardly and offered the formal way of saying thanks that he’d learned during his preparations for this trip.

They ended up back in the capsule hotel for Steve to pick up some things. Tony leaned against the next locker as he watched Steve intently.

“So what’re your plans now?” Steve asked as he dug out his duffel bag.

That was a good question, wasn’t it? “Well… I texted my handlers when we were at the police station to make sure they don’t think I’m dead. No meetings today or tomorrow, which means I’m free for both days.” He waggled his eyebrows at Steve. “How about you?”

“I’m here until the weekend,” Steve said as he dug through his duffel. “I have my days planned out, but it’s not all set in stone.” He glanced up at Tony, looking hesitant. “So you’re… really here for business?”

Tony shrugged. That was the last thing he wanted to talk about. “Yeah, this is a business trip. Trying to make some deals with some Japanese electronics manufacturers and all that. Pretty boring, to be honest.”

“Oh, huh. You look pretty young to be doing all that. You must be really good.”

Tony just stared for a moment as it dawned on him that Steve didn’t know who he was. He remembered when he’d succeeded his father as head of the company, news and popular magazines wouldn’t shut up about him. Yet here was this guy he’d found halfway across the world who had no earthly idea who he was. And he still wanted to hang out with him for some reason.

“I guess. Graduated from college early and all that. Anyway, are you okay with me sticking around?”

Steve stood up as he pushed his duffel back in and turned to Tony with a small smile. “Yeah, sure. Like I said, my plans for today are shot.”

“Sorry about that…”

“Not your fault,” Steve said as he shut the locker. “Like I said, I overslept. So… I guess I’m free.” His eyes roved over Tony for a moment before he added, “Don’t you want to go back to your hotel and change?”

Tony glanced down at his slightly rumpled suit and pants. He could go back to his hotel, but he had a feeling that his 5-star luxury suite overlooking Shibuya would give him away.

“Nah, I’m good. Honestly, I think I blend in more in this than I would in anything else.”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Good point. Well… any place in particular you want to go?”

Tony held out his hands in front of him, palms up. “No clue. You’ve been here longer than me. I’ll follow you.”

* * *

They ended up heading further north on the Yamanote Line to Ikebukuro, an area that Steve had heard about but hadn’t had as a priority on his list. It turned out to be worth it, though, once they found Sunshine City mall and the huge Christmas tree displayed within.

“Now this is Christmas!” Tony exclaimed as he ran up to the tree.

Amused, Steve followed him and watched him as he posed with some of the snowmen decorations around the tree and took some selfies. Eventually he gestured to Steve. “Hey, come on! Get in the shot!”

And that’s how Steve found himself posing with Tony with a smiling snowman in the middle. Thankfully the place wasn’t too busy and they only got a few odd stares for their antics.

Neither of them were interested in shopping, but Tony insisted on heading into an arcade they passed by. It was noisy and full of screens and flashing lights. To his surprise, though, Tony walked past the video game machines toward a different area filled with glass cases.

“You ever play a UFO catcher game before?” Tony asked as he walked up to one of the cases.

Steve recognized the machines from back at home, though the toys in this one seemed far more impressive. “Nah. These are scams, aren’t they?”

Tony shrugged as he put 500 yen into the machine’s slot. “Kind of. But they’re not that bad if you know what you’re doing.”

That’s how Steve found himself watching Tony proceed to win prize after prize from the UFO catcher. He went into a long rant about positioning and picking machines where the prizes were set up to actually be reachable. They even changed machines a few times. By the time they were done, Steve was holding onto an alarming number of cute plushes.

“Um… what’re we going to do with all these?” he asked from behind the pile.

Tony rubbed his chin as he considered his question. “Guess I overdid it, huh?” He gave Steve a shy smile. “Well… I wanted to win something for you, but I guess this is a bit too much, huh?”

Steve could feel his cheeks heat up. He was glad his face was partially obscured by a giant bunny plush. “Just a bit,” he answered.

They ended up stashing them one of the racing game cabinets for some kid to stumble upon.

“But you can have this one,” Tony said as he held up a golden retriever plush. It was really cute. “Reminds me of you.”

And what could Steve do but accept the gift? He felt something warm in his chest as he held it up to look it over. He felt ridiculous, like he was a teenager again.

When they stopped in Akihabara to transfer to another train line, Steve noticed Tony stop dead in his tracks. Following his line of sight, Steve caught sight of a ton of signs for electronic stores and even a giant department store boasting their electronics department. Tony’s eyes were wide like a kid who’d just discovered a candy store.

“Holy shit, I think I’ve heard about this place…” Tony’s feet were stepping forward seemingly on their own. He turned to look at Steve. “I know you wanted to get on the subway, but can we stop here? Just for a bit?”

Laughing, Steve patted Tony on the back as he stepped past him. “Sure, why not?”

Once they hit the smaller alleys off of the main road, Tony really did turn into a kid in a candy store. Steve could barely keep up as he watched Tony go from storefront to storefront, eyes wide as he looked at the various components they had on sale.

“Oh man, I didn’t even know this model was out!” he exclaimed as he examined some bizarre piece of hardware that Steve was pretty sure he’d never seen in his life.

Eventually, Tony ended up dragging Steve into his frenzy as he tried to ask shopkeepers questions about various things. Steve did his best to translate for him, though sometimes it seemed like the language of electronics nerds transcended all barriers.

By the time Tony was finally able to tear himself away, Steve was carrying a bag of god-only-knew what and walking alongside Tony, who seemed like he was on cloud nine. It reminded him of the time he’d been dating his ex Peggy before they’d decided to just be friends. She’d go shopping and Steve would happily help to lug home the ‘spoils of war,’ as she’d call them. Not that this was a date or anything, Steve told himself while trying to ignore the blooming warmth in his chest.

When he glanced over at Tony, he was met with Tony’s own gaze directed back at him under dark eyelashes. Feeling his face heat up, he glanced away quickly.

“Well, uh… I’m starving, how about you?” he said as he glanced around for any restaurant signs.

Tony chuckled. “Sure. Sounds good. Just gotta promise me one thing.”

Steve glanced back at him. “What?”

Tony grinned up at him. “Let me treat you this time.”

Steve couldn’t help his own big grin in response. “Sure, Tony.”

As they continued their walk down the large street on the lookout for restaurants, Steve could feel the big, goofy grin stretching across his face.

He had expected to spend Christmas by himself when he’d planned this whole trip. And sure, it would’ve been lonely, but he’d told himself he could live with that. Yet somehow he’d crossed paths with Tony, one of the most amazing people he’d ever met. The past day almost seemed like a dream. The wreaths and ribbons and other assorted Christmas decorations all over Akihabara only added to the dream-like feel of everything. It wasn’t that he felt like he was at home, though. Rather, it was an exciting mix of nostalgia and excitement for something new and the joy of having someone to share it with.

* * *

“Captain America?” Tony nearly spat out his fries, he was laughing so hard.

Across the table Steve averted his gaze, clearly embarrassed. “My rank in the army was captain, and when my students found out, well… that’s what they started calling me. And it stuck. Even some of the adults in town started using it,” he said with a sigh.

“You _do_ look very American,” Tony said with a smirk, his eyes drifting down toward Steve’s biceps. “100% American beef,” he added.

The terrible joke was worth it to watch Steve almost choke on his melon soda. Tony couldn’t help a soft smile as he gazed at Steve over his fries. He was probably giving him some serious bedroom eyes, and he couldn’t help it. Passing the time with a regular person and not in stuffy, super formal meetings was a nice change for once. Sure, Tony wasn’t a stranger to living in the public eye, but the past few years ever since he’d taken over the company after his parents’ death had been nothing but putting on a fake face for the world. Here, in this chain restaurant off the main road in Akihabara, Tony felt more like himself than he had in what seemed like forever. Despite having only met the guy in the strangest circumstances less than a day ago, Tony felt like he’d known Steve for years.

“So how about you?” Steve asked from across the table. “Sounds like you’re here on some pretty serious business.”

Tony waved a hand as though dismissing the billion-yen deals he was supposed to be negotiating. “Yeah, but it’s pretty boring, to be honest. Stuffy meetings while I listen to old dudes drone on about technology they barely even understand.”

Steve laughed and nudged the big bag of electronics next to him. “Yeah, something tells me not many people can beat you on that topic.”

Cradling his chin on his hands, Tony leaned forward on the table. “You’ve got that right, sunshine.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve raised an eyebrow at him. “And so modest, too,” he said with a smirk.

Tony was taken aback for a moment before he realized Steve was messing with him. They both broke out into laughter before going back to their food.

As much as Tony was enjoying this, he could feel the minutes ticking down until he had to go back to his lonely luxury suite. Back to the boring reality that was hanging over him like a shadow. Steve with his blond hair, bright eyes and even brighter smile was like sunshine keeping the shadows away. And if Tony was getting all poetic about things, he knew he was screwed.

By the time their plates were empty and they were getting up to go, Tony had made up his mind. He grabbed Steve’s hand after he’d tossed out his food.

“Hey, Steve. Mind if I stayed over another night?”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “In the capsule hotel? I thought you said you had your own room.”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah, but I don’t have to go back just yet and I can cover both of us tonight.” He offered Steve a lopsided grin. “Least I could do for my knight in shining armor.”

Steve looked indecisive for a moment and Tony felt his chest freeze up until Steve finally nodded and said, “Yeah, sure. Tomorrow’s Christmas, after all.” As though that explained everything.

* * *

As Steve pulled Tony close by his shirt collar and kissed him for what felt like the thousandth time that night, he couldn’t help grinning against Tony’s red, swollen lips.

“Merry Christmas, Tony,” he whispered before rolling them over so that Tony was underneath him. Despite actually getting his own capsule next to Steve’s for that night, he’d insisted on sharing with Steve this time. And, well… Steve couldn’t really complain right now. Even if they both got caught, it would have been worth it.

“Mmm?” Tony asked as he pulled back a bit. He glanced up at the clock above Steve’s head on the wall. “Oh yeah, guess it is.” He pressed a kiss to Steve’s chin before moving down to his neck. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Steve,” he murmured into Steve’s neck.

Christmas really was a couples’ holiday in Japan, Steve thought to himself with amusement as he relaxed into Tony’s kisses. He had a feeling that this would be a very nice Christmas, too.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've never heard of a capsule hotel, I highly recommend looking them up on YouTube. They're pretty wild! I've never stayed in one, but after writing this I really want to give it a try some day.


End file.
